A Cookie for Memory-Making

For those that work with and love food, most of the memories near and dear to their hearts have something to do with cooking and eating. Add the holidays into the mix, and you’ve got a veritable treasure trove of food-induced warm and fuzzies. That’s certainly the case for Brian Mercury, Pastry Chef at Harvard Square’s Harvest. When he thinks Christmas, he thinks about his earliest baking memory – cutout butter cookies which his family has been making since 1945 and which his 91 year old grandmother still makes to this day.  

Infinitely customizable, you can cut these treats into any shape you want, but the Mercury clan always went for traditional holiday shapes – with lots of sprinkles. “That's what always made it so much fun; my grandmother let us personalize them in our own way, and they tasted great – even the raw batter, which I got in trouble for eating way too often”, Mercury reminisced.

These crispy, sweet and delicious cookies are simple enough to have the kids help with (just keep an eye on that batter), but delicious enough to keep the adults coming back for more. Gather up your family and spend an afternoon baking, decorating, and most importantly, eating these delicious little delicacies together. You may just start a family tradition of your own.

Christmas Cutout Butter Cookies

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups sifted flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

2. Cream the butter and then gradually add the sugar. Cream the two together thoroughly. Add the egg and beat well. Then, stir in the vanilla.

3. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together in a separate bowl. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the butter mixture and stir until blended.

4. Chill the dough for 30 minutes in the refrigerator before rolling out on a floured board to an approximately 1/8 inch thickness.

5. Cut out with any shape of cookie cutter you desire, decorate with sprinkles and bake in the preheated oven on cookie sheets for 10 to 12 minutes, or until light golden brown.

6. Let cool completely and store in an airtight can.

 

Hungry for more? Head to the Recipe of the Week section of BostonChefs.com to browse through hundreds of seasonal dishes from Boston’s best chefs.